DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant: California State University, Sacramento (CSUS) is located in the capital of California and is the sixth largest university in the 23-campus CSU system. CSUS has an enrollment of 28,529 students. CSUS is strongly committed to the goals of pluralism, faculty scholarship, and the involvement of students in research. Approximately 67 % of students are female and 51 % of undergraduate students are from diverse backgrounds. The institution is committed to enhancing research opportunities for students and faculty members necessary to improve the quality of life through biomedical and behavioral research. The goal of this application is to continue the success achieved in previous years of EARDA funding with the establishment of the Research Fellows Program. During those years the following achievements occurred: 1) a Faculty Research Fellows program was established involving 10 faculty and 65 students in pilot research projects, 2) a collaborative agreement and memorandum of understanding was signed with a research intensive institution (University of California Davis Cancer Center), 3) 18 grantsmanship seminars and 2 major research conferences were offered to students and faculty members, 4) a collaborative relationship with the Office of Research and Sponsored Projects was developed to increase amounts of extramural funding, numbers of NIH submissions, publication and conference presentation productivity of faculty members, as well as facilitate the grants management process. The effectiveness of the next 3 years of funding will be evaluated by comparing baseline to yearly outcomes in terms of 1) percent of under-represented / female students and faculty members involved in research and participating in the Research Fellows Program, 2) number of under-represented and female faculty members with extramural funding, 3) number of NIH applications submitted / funded, 4) dollar amounts of extramural support, 5) number of Research Fellows with research presentations and publications, and 6) number and outcomes of cooperative ventures with research intensive institutions.